INTERVIEW: Alex Pettyfer

Alex Pettyfer

Alex Pettyfer may play Number Four, but he will soon be number one in the hearts of teen girls everywhere! This British hunk is heating up the big screen with starring roles in the much anticipated I Am Number Four and Beastly. Get to know Alex Pettyfer, the actor who is the real life leading man of Glee’s Dianna Agron!

Full Name: Alexander Richard Pettyfer
Birthday: April 10th, 1990
Hometown: Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England
Height: 5’11
Favorite Movie: ‘Chaplin’
Favorite Band: Kings of Leon
Favorite Color: Orange
Fun Fact: Alex’s younger half brother James is a professional tennis player!

Did you read the ‘I Am Number Four’ book before filming the movie?
Alex: No. I know what the book’s about, I’m gonna read it after the movie. The book didn’t come out until I was filming this movie, and I never wanted it to jeopardize what I was going to portray in the script into the movie through the thoughts that are in the book. A lot of people have read the book and said it was phenomenal.

How are you similar to your character John?
Alex: I think every teenager comes to a point in their life around fifteen, sixteen or seventeen when they say ‘Who do I want to be?’ ‘What do I want to do with my life?’ That’s how I related to John.

Did you do your own stunts?
Alex: I tried to do as many stunts as possible. I did an action movie when I was younger, so that was a real learning experience. For ‘I Am Number Four’, I did a backflip off a hundred and fifty foot scaffolding to practice for a dive and I trained a lot in martial arts and that kind of stuff.

What was the hardest part of filming ‘I Am Number Four’?
Alex: I’m a very naturally skinny guy. I think the hardest thing for me is to have that regime of eating and working out and fitting it in with work. It’s part of the job because you don’t want to go onscreen and have people think ‘He’s no leading man!” So I try to go to the gym and I absolutely hate it. I’d rather be on a couch, playing Playstation.

How is ‘Beastly’ different from the original ‘Beauty and the Beast’?
Alex: ‘Beauty and the Beast’ has always been told through a female’s perspective and we go on this journey with a male’s perspective, which is great because it gives it a new route on a tale that’s been told so many times.

How long did it take to transform you into the beast for ‘Beastly’?
Alex: It was like four and a half hours in the morning and an hour to get it off. It was phenomenal though. How many actors get to say that get to experience that life changing experience where they change how you look?

Describe your ‘Beastly’ character Kyle.
Alex: He’s not cocky and arrogant, he’s just a jock. He’s a charismatic, very wealthy, materialistic guy. The way he does things, he’s very quick, very snappy. He starts off his conversation to the school in front of four hundred people telling them that they’re a very aggressively unattractive bunch of people, but while he’s saying this huge speech, they’re loving him. They love what he’s saying, and what’s great about it is that he has this charismatic charm to him which makes him so appealing. I didn’t want to go down that whole good looking jock.

Did you keep any props from ‘Beastly’?
Alex: Absolutely! I kept Neil Patrick Harris’ eyeglasses and my big coat. I was trying to sneak the motorbike into cargo on the plane, but they weren’t having any of that.

What’s the coolest location you’ve ever filmed in?
Alex: I filmed on top of a skyscraper in the middle of London at sunset. The view was stunning.

What was it like walking the red carpet for the first time?
Alex: My biggest fear was that there might be five or six kids there who just want an autograph and then I would walk in and do my press. I got out of the car and it was probably three seconds and three thousand girls were screaming for me.

What made you want to quit modeling and begin acting?
Alex: Round the age of thirteen I just got fed up with standing in front of a camera. Obviously I want to be in front but I like to see what happens behind when you’re on a set. Most people come back to their trailer and sit in there and watch the telly or read. I was behind the cameras watching all that they’re doing. I really wanted to learn the whole process of the film.

How did you first start acting?
Alex: I was at school. I had a big crush on a girl and I joined the media class because she was in it. I realized that I was two years younger than her and I wasn’t in the same class as her and was stuck with it. I had to do it. I went on this school trip and I really didn’t care about acting or about media. I wanted to be a racing driver. I went to go to the toilet and walked into this auditioning room where Stephen Fry was and he must have taken a fancy. Him and the producer stuck me in this small TV movie called ‘Tom Brown’s Schooldays’, which was a great experience. I loved every second and realized that as long as this journey was going to go forward, I was going to go with it because who doesn’t like playing dress up?

How does it feel to be a role model?
Alex: I don’t know about role model because there are so many out there, but I’m sure I set standards, like I won’t be the one who goes out partying and drinking because nowadays kids go ‘Well, I want to get into that nightclub’. I’m quite a family oriented guy. We had a screening in Toronto, and this kid stood up and said, “Are you going to be in the next one? Because you rock and the film rocks.” I said, “Thank you so much.” I stood outside, and obviously you’ve got to do the autograph, but I really wanted to talk to these kids and see what all their feelings and passion was.

What types of roles do you want to do in the future?
Alex: I never think about the next movie. I always think about the situation I’m in now, but you do think about an arc someone can go in. I never want to play the same character over and over again.